Sung in Italian

In her early years as a dramatic soprano, Callas sang three Wagner roles: Isolde, Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) and Kundry in Parsifal. This performance of Wagner’s final opera, recorded for Italian state radio late in 1950, became her farewell to the composer. Although only 26 at the time, she showed a deep understanding of the complex and tortured character of Kundry, a mythical woman who is hundreds of years old. The previous year, while singing Isolde in Venice, Callas had been encouraged by the conductor Tullio Serafin to take on the coloratura role of Elvira in I puritani at very short notice; it set a new and decisive direction for her career.